Big Texas Beer Fest

Anyone going to this on Saturday, April 14th in Fair Park?

I just bought my tickets.

The Dart runs right to the front door basically, yay for no DWIs.

See you guys there!

I had planned on going to this since I first saw it but school has turned into a disaster this semester so I don't have the weekend time available to go. I am very sad about that.

I'm going. Looking forward to trying Sculpin IPA.

Funk YEAH I'm going. Been looking forward to this for the past 2 months.

It's on the Wife's birthday, and this is what she wanted to do. :rockin:

We are in for VIP early entry that day.

It's on my birthday too!

I am considering going especially since my SWMBO opened up that idea to go for my birthday. But I'm worried at how the beer is only distributed in those small 2oz. cups. I just went to the Austin Brew Festival this past weekend. They had those 2 oz. cups too, but at least you were able to purchase a full 12oz if you wanted to. I haven't read yet where they were going to allow you to purchase the full 12oz bottle. I know that you can get another sheet of 2 oz samples (12 count) for $2, which is nice, but I spent sooooo much time standing in line just to get a shot of beer.

I love beer fests and I've gone to a several back in Florida where I'm from, and they didn't pour a whole glass, but they didn't give you a shot-sized pour either!

jww9618 said:

I'm going. Looking forward to trying Sculpin IPA.

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You will not be disappointed

chalkdust41485 said:

It's on my birthday too!

I am considering going especially since my SWMBO opened up that idea to go for my birthday. But I'm worried at how the beer is only distributed in those small 2oz. cups. I just went to the Austin Brew Festival this past weekend. They had those 2 oz. cups too, but at least you were able to purchase a full 12oz if you wanted to. I haven't read yet where they were going to allow you to purchase the full 12oz bottle. I know that you can get another sheet of 2 oz samples (12 count) for $2, which is nice, but I spent sooooo much time standing in line just to get a shot of beer.

I love beer fests and I've gone to a several back in Florida where I'm from, and they didn't pour a whole glass, but they didn't give you a shot-sized pour either!

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I was at brew at the zoo. They had the same sized sample cup with an option to buy extra tickets as well. I was nice and toasty after a few hours with plenty of chances to taste all the beer I wanted, and go back for seconds of the great ones. I think the sample is a decent size. It allows you to try 15 different beers without getting too hammered to enjoy/taste the 10th or 12th sample.

Just thought I'd bump this thread with an update on how it went. I'm just going to post someone else's review because their assessment really hits the nail on the head. At least they refunded the tickets...

Dear fellow beer lovers,

Help me find or tell me who hosted this event? I will never attend anything hosted by them. In fact I can't wait to bad mouth these idiots for disrespecting you, my friends, and myself!

I absolutely love my beer events! And attend almoat every event during Austin beer week! This was the worse event I have ever been to. I'm ashamed and embarrassed I attended. I feel stupid and ripped off.

How dare you charge for parking at an event with only one place to park! Your an *******!

Then we weren't allowed to use our souvenir mugs. F you!

Never again will you host an event in Austin! I wish evil upon you!

My friends paid $50 for tickets and $10 for parking and NEVER EVEN WENT IN.

They contemplated the hour+ long line, then I texted them about how sucky it was inside, so they went to Flying Saucer instead.

After joining them at Flying Saucer. I knew they made the right decision.
--Albert B.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-austin-beer-fest-austin

What is this a review of? The beer fest is this weekend.

His review was for the Austin Beer Festival on March 30.
I was there too and have to say that it was pretty bad. But, I went with my brother-in-law and the girls went to get their nails done, so they dropped us off. Didn't have to pay for parking, but still thought that was a ripoff.
We also didn't show up until 4:30 and the crowd/lines got much better after that. Still, probably the worst run beer festival.
They had plenty of room to spread out the tents, it they were all squished together. Horrible...
They didn't even have a hand out with the locations of the breweries. I had wanted to try the Hop Rye Ale from Bear Republic... I couldn't even find them. With over 500 beers available, you'd think that they would give you a map or something.
I'm a fan of 10 Years, who played at 8:15. That was probably the best part of the day -- the rock band -- at a beer festival....

Let's hear it people: how was the Dallas version?

After seeing these reviews of the Austin event and what happened with Dallas Beer Week last fall I don't have great expectations for the organization. (Is paid parking that big of a deal? In Dallas, you pay to park pretty much anywhere you go.) The Houston and Austin events have some rough yelp reviews. I hope they got their act together for the event last weekend.

The Dallas beer fest was great overall. They had some small problems, but overall it was awesome.

A few links to reviews of the fest by folks that can write much better than me, and well written/solid reviews:

dallas observer

examiner.com

I thought the fest was outstanding.

The Dallas Observer told it well.

We got there about 1pm and it took about 30 minutes to get in. The line was long. They had to check ID on everyone since it was a 21 and over event. Platinum Security did a great job moving people and one of their line handlers was hilarious. That helped.

Once inside, the lines to get extra beer cards, $2 for 12 more samples, moved really fast. Your first 12 samples and the sample cup were included in the price of admission. The sample cup was plastic, but not a chincy Jello shot cup.

Lines at the booths weren't too bad. Some much longer than others. They moved fairly well and each booth had 2 or more people pouring. I forget how many booths there were or how many beers we had. It was a lot.

The food truck situation was terrible. The potato truck ran out pretty quick, leaving only the hot dog and pizza truck to serve the crowd. The potato guys did say they baking more on the spot. According to the Dallas Observer, there was supposed to be more trucks, but they backed out at the last minute. Somebody was selling pretzels. After trying the trucks twice though, we opted to eat elsewhere after the fest.

The live bands were good. Kinda hard to hear over the crowd unless you were right there.

The crowd itself was awesome. No jerks. I wore sandals and didn't get my toes stepped on. We didn't get our beers knocked over. A down right civil bunch.

All in all, it was pretty good. A bit simple though. There could have been some guest speakers, some reps from the breweries talking about their beers on separate platforms around the event and displays. They probably learned a lot and we'll make plans to go again if they do it next year.

Sounds like the Dallas festival went MUCH better than the Austin one, but I'm pretty sure it's different folks running it anyhow. I'm looking forward to making next years in Dallas. Thanks for the update fellas :rockin:

HopToItHomebrew said:

...but I'm pretty sure it's different folks running it anyhow.:rockin:

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Absolutely different folks running the BTBF. Not that they need it, but Chad and Nellie (the couple that ran BTBF) are 1) good people with solid business minds, 2) superb beergeeks, and 3) very keen on nailing all of the details that are needed to run one of these. Basically, they tried to emulate GABF in setup and function as much as reasonable, though obviously on a *much* smaller scale. I'd say for their first shot at it, they win. Sharp folks, and thankfully, can throw a hell of a beerfest.

Anyone going to the Big Texas Brewfest next month?

Bumping for this year's festival. Beer list released over the weekend. Anyone else going? The wife and I got VIP tickets, so we'll be there for the early entry at 1pm!

I would be there but a friend is getting married. Probably a dry wedding too ...

Again, as was 2 yrs ago, this is The Wife's desire for her birthday, so we will be there bright and early for VIP! :rockin:

I'll also have a preview article posted about it on www.iliveindallas.com some time this week, though I won't be able to attend.

FunkytownBrewyard said:

Again, as was 2 yrs ago, this is The Wife's desire for her birthday, so we will be there bright and early for VIP! :rockin:

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Nice. My wife is going, but this is definitely for me, and not her! She might use half her tasting card, while I'll buy extras!

Here's my write up!

http://www.iliveindallas.com/big-texas-beerfest-2014

Nice writeup! Sorry you're not going to be able to make it this year.

I'm actually going to Cobra Brewing Company tonight. The Denton County A&M Club happy hour for this month is there. Looking forward to trying it out. I also need to check out Rabbit Hole, it's not far from my house, either.